INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
would never see him again
Last week, the 45-year-old was one of a handful of people released from detention in the aftermath of the student uprising which led to the
snatched off the streets near his home in April 2019, said he endured mental and physical torture during his captivity in spaces so confined
He was among three political prisoners released after the student protests which forced Hasina from power last week and saw the appointment
of an interim government headed by entrepreneur and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.Chakma says he had lost all hope of ever seeing his family
he was being detained for questioning over several cases filed against him
Photograph: HandoutIn the early months of his disappearance, a police official told the media that he might be in hiding, evading arrest due
to the charges against him
During his captivity, Chakma was moved around a few times
incessant whirring of fans and the muffled cries of fellow detainees from nearby cells
land conflict dating back to British colonial rule, is viewed by Hasina as one of her groundbreaking achievements, and was often touted as
Nobel prize-worthy by her supporters
internationally have written for me
But I never went lobbying for it
alleviated poverty, reducing it from 41.6% to 18.7%
One officer ominously informed me that they would electrocute me and that I would be burned to ashes in a second if I failed to answer their
During the sweltering summer months, guards would turn off the fans, while in winter, they increased the fan speed
fullscreenFriends and family Michael Chakma at a press conference in Dhaka in April 2019
Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty ImagesChakma was released on 5 August, alongside two others, both of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
political party: Abdullahil Aman Azmi, son of a former Jamaat chief and convicted war criminal, and barrister Ahmad Bin Quasem (Arman), son
has been campaigning for the release of her brother for more than a decade
fleeing of Hasina, three people have been released from the secret detention centres
The number is really not fixed
According to our estimates, since 2009, more than 750 people have forcibly disappeared
A few of them have been released and some have been killed
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faces showed up in the protests and in the past, we did not know their family members were missing
happened to their brothers, fathers, husbands and sons
have fallen victim to enforced disappearance
While some have returned home, the bodies of others have been found, often showing signs of torture
month.Nur Khan Liton, a human rights activist who survived an abduction attempt in 2014, says the government must prioritise the release of
individuals detained in secret prisons and conduct investigations
He stressed the importance of holding those responsible accountable to rebuild trust within the country
as well as inquiries from the supreme court, the UN committee against torture and NGOs such as Amnesty and Human Rights Watch.In December
former and current officers, due to their roles in numerous enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.Chakma acknowledged the role
of international and external support
journalists waged in my support
He says he is still concerned about his safety
Photograph: HandoutKnown for speaking out against military abuses of Indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Chakma remains
The interim government is struggling to deal with the law and order situation
rights are not established or they are not the top priority of the interim and the coming government, we might see abductions, extrajudicial
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
